Your Life-Line of Youth

Somewhere between 90,000 - 125,000 people die each year because of simple liver disease and cirrhosis.

There is no reason for this to be happening. This fantastic and complex organ performs the true miracle of converting food into living energy and the elements for sustaining life.

The human system is a scientific marvel often compared to a machine, e.g. the steadfast pump of the heart, the remarkable bio-computer brain, the electrical system of the nerves.

So subtle and versatile is the liver that it defies a machine-like analogy, but rather might be compared to an entire city, for the variety of its activities.

It is one of the body's most vital organs.

The largest of the internal organs, the liver, "weighs in" at 2.5 to 5 pounds. It is suspended behind the ribs on the upper right side of the abdomen and spans almost the entire width of the body over to the heart. It has two separate lobes that operate independently of each other (in case one side stops functioning).

One unique feature of the liver is that it is capable of regenerating itself after a portion is removed. After a loss of up to 75% due to injury or surgery the remaining liver can grow back and be restored to normal size within several months.

The liver receives blood directly from the stomach, pancreas and intestines via the portal vein. The liver with its dazzling intricate labyrinth of special cells, veins and ducts receive this nutrient rich blood, and filters out the nutrients taking them into its own cells to be processed. The liver also receives freshly oxygenated blood via a different artery, from which it takes its oxygen supply.

It filters out wastes and other poisons and converts them into substances which can be safely carried out of the body. The liver filters more than a quart of blood each minute.The liver is the organ that is responsible for processing, converting, distributing and maintaining the body's fuel (energy) supply.

It converts the complex energy foods we eat (carbohydrates fats, and proteins) into simple glucose (blood sugar) or stores this fuel as glycogen.

It breaks down and converts fats for distribution and storage.

The liver is responsible for dismantling proteins into amino acids, assembling proteins, and making new amino acids for use throughout the body.

It breaks down old blood cells and recycles the iron. The liver also makes bile, a yellowish-green alkaline liquid which is stored in the gall bladder, and secreted into the small intestines to help break down fats. Bile contains the pigments which give color to urine and feces. When the bile ducts are obstructed it is the bile pigments which can cause the body to turn jaundice or yellow.

Add to the list of liver functions the production of many different hormones and proteins, which affect the way the body grows and heals.

Many vitamins and other nutrients like iron are stored in the liver and released when needed.

Poisons such as alcohol and drugs are detoxified in the liver.

As we can see, this organ is vital for many reasons.

No one has ever devised an artificial liver because it is so complex.

Second only to the brain in complexity, the liver is the home of many of the mysteries of life. As powerful as this organ is, it is also delicate and may fall prey to disease.

Common diseases of the liver:

Hepatitis literally means an inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by alcohol, viruses, drugs and blood exchange.
One type of viral hepatitis, hepatitis A (also called infectious hepatitis) is transmitted usually through food and is more common where sanitation and hygiene are poor.
The other type, hepatitis B, is a virus spread via exchange of blood (it is also known as serum hepatitis). Today's blood supplies are thoroughly checked for the hepatitis B virus.

There is now a more recent type of hepatitis (hepatitis C). This type seems to involve blood exchange or I.V. drug use. This type of hepatitis seems to be the most troublesome of all. For many there are no symptoms for 15 to 20 years. This type C hepatitis can turn into cirrhosis or even liver cancer. Many people in the United States are receiving liver transplants for this type of hepatitis. Others have found natural ways to get his type of hepatitis under control or even cured.

Alcohol can damage the liver even in moderate quantities. Alcohol is a concentrated sugar which causes fat to be deposited in the liver. For those who drink only occasionally, the damage is temporary and the liver can usually 'bounce back' to normal after several days of rest and clean living. Those who drink more often don't give the liver a chance to recuperate from the alcohol poisoning and more serious damage to the live can result.

In some cases alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholic hepatitis or cirrhosis. As mentioned before, the liver is one organ which has the amazing ability to regenerate itself. Cirrhosis is a condition in which a liver damaged by disease, alcohol or drugs doesn't grow back 'good as new.'
In cirrhosis, the liver forms fibrous scar tissue and lumpy irregular nodules as it regenerates. In advanced cases the liver becomes so badly scarred by cirrhosis that it can no longer do its work, and the afflicted person dies of liver failure.

The liver as we know has well over 500 functions in the human body. Below are some functions of this amazing organ:

· Metabolizes proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, thus providing energy and nutrients

· Stores vitamins, minerals, and sugars

· Filters the blood and helps remove harmful chemicals and bacteria

· Creates bile which breaks down fats

· Helps to assimilate and store fat soluble vitamins (A,E,D,K)

· Stores extra blood which can be quickly released when needed

· Creates serum proteins which maintain fluid balance and act as carriers

· Helps maintain electrolyte and water balance

· Creates immune substances such as gamma globulin

· Breaks down and eliminates excess hormones

· Vascular (blood management)

· Provides blood clotting factors

· Breaks down ammonia (and other toxins) created in the colon by bacteria; thus preventing death

· Helps to maintain blood pressure

· Constructs cholesterol and estrogen, reconstructs hormones

· Humanizes nutrients, metabolizes protein, carbohydrates, fat for energy

· Synthesizes urea, constructs blood protein, interconverts amino acids

· Constructs 50,000 systems of enzymes to govern metabolic activity throughout the body

· Removes damaged red blood cells

· Converts the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) into it more active form triiodothyronine (T3). Inadequate conversion may lead to hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue, weight gain, poor memory and other debilitating conditions.

· Creates GTF (Glucose Tolerance Factor) from chromium, niacin and possibly glutathione. GTF is needed for the hormone insulin to properly regulate blood-sugar levels.

· Manufactures bile salts which emulsify fats and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K for proper absorption. The liver also removes some fat-soluble toxins from the body.

· Activates B vitamins into their biologically active coenzyme forms. Virtually every nutrient must be biotransformed by the liver into its proper biochemical form before the nutrient can be stored, transported or used in cellular metabolism.

· Stores various nutrients, especially A, D, B-12 and iron for release as needed.

· Manufactures carnitine from lysine and other nutrients. Carnitine is the only known bionutrient which can escort fats into the mitochondria where they are used to generate ATP energy. The mitochondria generate 90% of the ATP energy at the cellular level.

· Converts lactic acid from a toxic waste to an important storage fuel. Lactic acid is produced when glucose is metabolized through the energy production cycle. When excessive levels accumulate, you experience sore muscles. A healthy liver will extract lactic acid from the bloodstream and convert it into the reserve endurance fuel, glycogen.

· Serves as the main glucose buffer, preventing high or low extremes of blood sugar. The liver is the key regulator of blood sugar between meals due to its manufacture, storage, and release of glycogen, the starch form of glucose. When blood sugar is low, a healthy liver converts stored glycogen into glucose, releasing it into the bloodstream to raise blood sugar levels. When blood sugar is high, a healthy liver will convert the excess into stored glycogen or fat.

· Chief regulator of protein metabolism. The liver converts different amino acids into each other as needed.

· Produces cholesterol and converts it into the various forms needed for blood transport.

· Converts essential fatty acids such as GLA, EPA, and DHA into the lipoprotein forms necessary to allow transport via the bloodstream to the 50 trillion cells requiring fatty acids.

· Main poison-detoxifying organ in the body. The liver must break down every substance toxic to the body including metabolic wastes, insecticide and pesticide residues, drugs, alcohol, etc. Failure of this function will usually cause death in 12 to 24 hours.

· Removes ammonia, a toxic by-product of animal protein metabolism, from the body.

· Breaks down hormones after they have served their function. i.e., if the liver does not break down insulin fast enough, hypoglycemia results because the circulating insulin continues to lower blood sugar.

· The liver is vital to a host of other metabolic functions, but this brief overview should serve to illustrate the central role the liver plays in maintaining good health and the importance of implementing life-style change if necessary. Liver Disease Risk Factors

· Junk foods such as french fries, doughnuts, fried chicken and snack foods are cooked in overheated, overused, hydrogenated fats. Fried foods are a major source of liver-toxic lipid peroxides (rancid fats) and trans-fatty acids. Lipid peroxides are immune suppressive and damage liver cell membranes. Trans-fatty acids suppress production of PGE1, an important liver-protecting anti-inflammatory prostaglandin.

· Alcohol. The liver converts alcohol into toxic acetaldehyde during its alcohol detoxification process. Acetaldehyde inhibits PGE1, production, is a powerful free radical inducer, and is largely responsible for the liver, brain, heart, kidney, skin, and blood vessel lining damage associated with chronic alcoholism.

· Coffee crops are sprayed with pesticides. Almost all the coffee beans in the U.S. are imported, there is no way to determine which pesticides were used. Carcinogenic hydrocarbons are produced during roasting and the highest levels are found in dark roasts.

· Smoking. Tobacco smoke contains toxic benzopyrene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, cyanide, acetaldehyde, tars, etc. As the body's main detoxifying organ, the liver must work overtime to remove this stew of toxins.

· Fuel exhaust. Auto and diesel exhaust contain dozens of liver damaging poisons such as lead, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, acetaldehyde, cadmium, and peroxyacetylnitrile.

· Birth-control pills. There have been some cases where as little as two to three weeks of use have been documented to severely reduce the ability of the liver to detoxify naturally produced estrogen. The livers of women on B vitamin/protein deficient diets may have difficulty metabolizing estrogen to nontoxic estriol, leaving it instead in the form of liver-toxic estradiol.

· Candida. Candida yeast ferments dietary sugars into liver-toxic acetaldehyde in the process of turning sugar into energy. Candida also appears to increase gut and urinary levels of ammonia, another liver toxin.

· Pesticides such as PDT, Aldrin, chlordane, lindane, 2,4,5-T dioxin, and toxaphene can cause chronic liver damage even at levels measured in parts per billion because they tend to accumulate in body fat over a lifetime.

· Long-term drug use whether prescribed or illegal are potentially liver-toxic. Potential liver damage is a common warning found in prescription drug descriptions. Anabolic steroids. Liver damage is a major side effect of chronic steroid abuse by athletes.

· Acetaminophen. Tylenol, Anacin-3, Arthritis Pain Formula Aspirin Free, Datril Liquiprin Elixir, and St. Joseph Aspirin Free Fever Reducer for Children are just a few of the OTC (Over The Counter) products containing acetaminophen.

People should be careful not to take too many drugs containing acetaminophen at the same time. Taking more than 15 grams can lead to irreversible liver disease. Whether smaller doses over long periods of time (such as those recommended for relieving arthritis symptoms) harm the liver has not been determined, but prolonged use increases the risk of kidney damage.

Additional research is needed, but some reports indicate that fasting (i.e., you stop eating because of a bad cold or influenza) while taking acetaminophen may contribute to liver damage.

People who consume large amounts of alcohol are at highest risk of developing liver damage from overuse of acetaminophen.

· Patient Alert: Acetaminophen was originally introduced in 1955 for children's fever and pain relief. Please note that the 15 grams mentioned above is for an adult;. Read all labels completely before giving your child any medication. It's not uncommon for infant formulas to contain higher amounts of active ingredients than children's formulas.

Liver Weakness Signs and Symptoms

· Depression, Anger, Frustration, Lumps in neck, breast, etc., Poor digestion

· Dizziness, Eye problems, Red or flushed face, Irritability, Ringing in the ears, Warm palms and soles

· Hypertension, Migraines and other types of headaches, Dizziness, Insomnia, Violent anger, Bitter taste in mouth

· Weak tendons and ligaments, Chronic menstrual problems, Scanty menstruation

· Rigid body, Vertigo, Extreme dizziness, Severe pain, Convulsions, Spasm. Tremors

· Constipation, Sinus congestion, Allergies, Hemorrhoids, Excessive Mucus

· Difficulty in breathing, Fatigue, Respiratory distress, Gas, Bloating, Cholesterol problems, Skin problems.

· Chronic degenerative diseases, Cancer, Diabetes, Arthritis, Osteoporosis

· Deciphering Liver Function Tests Different cells have different enzymes inside them, depending on the function of the cell. When cells die or are damaged, the enzymes leak out causing the blood level of these enzymes to rise.

The most important thing to remember about liver function tests or “LFTs” is that they do not in fact measure liver function. They have meaning, but they generally cannot be interpreted without clinical information.

Also, the numbers do not always detect liver disease. Some patients with severe advanced liver disease will have nearly normal enzyme levels.

An added complication in interpretation is that the numbers are not linear, i.e., an AST (see below) of 300 is not twice as bad as 150 (normal is 40) and a reading of 94 and 80 are essentially the same to a liver specialist.

· ALT - Alanine aminotransferase used to be called SGPT (Serum Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase). The presence of this enzyme is more Specific for liver disease than AST which is found in more types of cells (i.e., heart, intestine, muscle). The normal range is 5 - 50 IU/L.

· AST which is found in more types of cells (i.e., heart, intestine, muscle). The normal range is 5- 50 IU/L (International Units per Liter).

· AST- Aspartate aminotransferase used to be called SGOT (Serum Glutamic Oxaloaceti Transaminase). The normal range is 5-50 IU/L.

· AP - Alkaline Phosphatase. This enzyme level is elevated in a number of disorders that affect the drainage of bile - gallstone or tumor blocking the common bile duct, alcoholic liver disease, or drug-induced hepatitis. AP is also found in bone, placenta, and intestine 50 the GGT is used as a supplemental test. The normal range is 30-115 IU/L.

· GGT or GGTP- Gamma Glutamyl Transpeptidase. Elevated levels of this enzyme are specific to liver disorders (GGT levels are not elevated in diseases of bone, placenta or intestine.) The normal level is zero.

· Bilirubin is the main bile pigment in humans which when elevated, causes the yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes called jaundice. Bilirubin is formed primarily from the breakdown of a substance in red blood cells called “heme.” It is taken up from blood processed through the liver and then secreted into the bile by the liver. Healthy persons have only a small amount of bilirubin circulating in their blood - less than 1.2 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter).

· Albumin is a major protein produced by the liver. Chronic liver disease causes a decrease in the amount of albumin produced. Serum albumin levels of less than 3.5 mg/dL indicate advanced liver disease. The normal range is 3-5 mg/dL.

· Prothrombin Time (also called protime or PT) is a test used to assess blood clotting. Blood clotting factors are proteins made by the liver 50 when the liver is significantly injured, the production of proteins is impaired. There is a good correlation between abnormalities in coagulation measured by the PT test and the degree of liver dysfunction. PT is expressed in seconds and compared to a healthy control patients blood.

· The LFTs are used primarily to screen or monitor liver disease. If the markers are present, your physician may order specialized tests to make a precise diagnosis of the underlying cause of liver disease.

· There are specific tests that allow the precise diagnosis of hepatitis A, B, C and D.